diff --git a/apps/server/src/services/threads/thread-data.ts b/apps/server/src/services/threads/thread-data.ts
index 9cc53bc57..59394b3ea 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/services/threads/thread-data.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/services/threads/thread-data.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import {
   findStoredEventRow as findStoredEventRowRecord,
   getLatestThreadOutputEventRow,
-  getLatestThreadSystemErrorEventRow,
+  getLatestThreadFailureEventRow,
   listStoredEventRows as listStoredEventRowRecords,
 } from "@bb/db";
 import type { DbConnection, StoredEventRow } from "@bb/db";
@@ -169,8 +169,20 @@ export function getLastThreadErrorMessage(
   db: DbConnection,
   threadId: string,
 ): string | null {
-  const row = getLatestThreadSystemErrorEventRow(db, { threadId });
+  const row = getLatestThreadFailureEventRow(db, { threadId });
   if (!row) return null;
   const eventRow = parseStoredEventRow(row);
-  return eventRow.type === "system/error" ? eventRow.data.message : null;
+  if (eventRow.type === "system/error") return eventRow.data.message;
+  if (eventRow.type === "provider/error") {
+    const { message, detail, errorInfo } = eventRow.data;
+    const text = detail && detail.length > 0 ? detail : message;
+    if (!errorInfo) return text;
+    const parts: string[] = [errorInfo.category];
+    if (errorInfo.httpStatusCode !== null) {
+      parts.push(`HTTP ${errorInfo.httpStatusCode}`);
+    }
+    if (errorInfo.providerCode !== null) parts.push(errorInfo.providerCode);
+    return `${text} (${parts.join(", ")})`;
+  }
+  return null;
 }
diff --git a/packages/db/src/data/events.ts b/packages/db/src/data/events.ts
index e7de63b63..1f5c55eea 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/data/events.ts
+++ b/packages/db/src/data/events.ts
@@ -3063,6 +3063,31 @@ export function getLatestThreadSystemErrorEventRow(
   );
 }
 
+/**
+ * Latest failure-describing event for a thread: either a bb-side
+ * `system/error` or a provider-originated `provider/error` (for example a
+ * 429 rate limit), whichever was stored last.
+ */
+export function getLatestThreadFailureEventRow(
+  db: DbConnection,
+  args: GetLatestThreadSystemErrorEventRowArgs,
+): StoredEventRow | null {
+  return (
+    db
+      .select(storedEventRowFields)
+      .from(events)
+      .where(
+        and(
+          eq(events.threadId, args.threadId),
+          inArray(events.type, ["system/error", "provider/error"]),
+        ),
+      )
+      .orderBy(desc(events.sequence))
+      .limit(1)
+      .get() ?? null
+  );
+}
+
 export function getLatestThreadSequence(
   db: DbConnection,
   args: GetLatestThreadSequenceArgs,
diff --git a/packages/db/src/data/index.ts b/packages/db/src/data/index.ts
index 6e599d718..c14ca5415 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/data/index.ts
+++ b/packages/db/src/data/index.ts
@@ -339,6 +339,7 @@ export {
   getStoredTurnRequestEventForTurn,
   getLatestThreadOutputEventRow,
   getLatestThreadSystemErrorEventRow,
+  getLatestThreadFailureEventRow,
   getLatestThreadSequence,
   getLatestStoredEventRowByType,
   insertEvents,